Creative Ways to say, "I Love You"

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, we're reminded to tell our loved ones how much we care. However, in our house we try to make it a habit to 'creatively' say, "I Love You" in unusual ways often.

Our favorites:

POST-ITS: We have some fun ways of doing that in our house. When we first married, I started randomly leaving post-it note "I love you's" where my husband would find them from time to time... on his lunch, on the mirror in the bathroom, his windshield, steering wheel, in his coat pocket, in his wallet, on his computer screen, in his sock drawer. He took up the same periodic habit and writes notes to me.

PANCAKES: Then, when we had kids it has become an "almost every weekend" ritual to make blueberry pancakes. I make the batter, clean up the kitchen, and get the girls ready for the day while he mans the stove. He loves to make heart pancakes, Mickey Mouse, and lately... letters. Last weekend he spelled out I (heart) each of our names!

OTHER FOOD: Use Bakery Safe markers (in the decorating section of the store) and use them to write on your children's sandwiches. Write on a banana with an ink pen. Leave notes on food containers. Write on napkins. It's fun to find notes where you least expect them.

WINDOW PAINT: Window Paint (of the washable variety) is great for leaving a note on screen doors, mirrors, windshields, etc. Be sure it is WASHABLE! :-)

"I love you this much": Many families love the book, "Guess How Much I love You"... we also stretch out arms and say, I love you this much as we come and go. Emily said that with outstretched arms IMMEDIATELY when she first met her baby sister! She then took the baby's arms and stretched them to say I love you!

Just Say It: The habit here is that an "I love you" is exchanged at the end of phone conversations, when someone leaves the house, before bed, first thing in the morning, and whenever we "just feel like it" - which is often. It is one thing you can't say enough.